Uncharted Territory
by amy871
Summary: The 10th Doctor is dying while still traveling with Rose and wants to take her on one last fun adventure before he regenerates. But things never really go according to plan for them and soon it won't be only the Doctor who might be dying.
1. No More Plans

**No copyright infringement intended. I own nothing to do with Doctor Who. This is my first fanfic and I'm not sure how to go about it but I hope you like the story! I'd love to know if it's any good so please let me know what you think! Comments would be very appreciated! :D**

The Doctor watched Rose closely, wishing he could somehow freeze a copy of her in this moment and keep it forever but of course that was impossible, even for him.

"Wha' ?" She asked, looking up at him with her usual playful smile.

"Let's go to Saturn! The rings of Saturn! Did I tell you about the water slide? Goes all the way around at 100 miles an hour! We've been working too hard. Bit of fun, that's what we need. Water slides are fun, Rose!" He said, speaking at top speed with a maniacal grin. Rose laughed and rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, alright. sounds great but let's not get there and not have like, proper bathing suits or permits or whatever. Don't wanna get arrested for that... again."

"I always have the proper permits." He replied, waving the psychic paper at her and whirling around to the console.

one last trip. one last adventure with his rose before it all went away. He was dying, or, more accurately, regenerating and even though he would still be him, he would not be exactly the same man. He wouldn't look the same and he wouldn't like the same foods and he wouldn't dress the same, he wouldn't feel the same about things. well, except one thing; her. He was absolutely positive he would always feel the same way about her but once he was different, would she feel differently about him?

He couldn't be sure about that and so he would have this last adventure before it was too late. Before he possibly lost her, and his hearts broke he would go play with Rose on the universe's best water slide. The thought made him laugh out loud.

-"Okay, this might be a bit of a problem." The doctor muttered to himself moments later, too distracted by the readouts on the screen in front of him to notice Rose move to stand over his shoulder.

"What's it say?" She asked softly, squinting at the screen as if seeing it better could make her understand the strange jumble of numbers and characters.

He smiled to himself, enjoying her closeness and the smell of her perfume. He would miss this feeling to the point of pain if he lost it. Would he have to?

"It says we're lost. Weeeell, it says we're not we're we planned to be." He answered her, turning knobs and pulling levers.

"Truth is, Rose, that I don't know where we are and neither does the Tardis. We're somewhere i've never seen. Somewhere totally new. Uncharted territory!" He couldn't control the thrill he felt even though it wasn't what he'd planned. After all this time, and all he'd seen he'd actually found something new. Something that would make him be able to share the wonder and awe he saw in Rose's eyes everytime he took her to a new star.

"We're alright then, yeah?" Rose asked nervously.

"Alright? Rose Tyler, we're brilliant!" He laughed, catching her up in a fierce hug and spinning around.

-"Here we are, Rose! The unknown. We are possibly the only people to stand on this ground ever. We might be the only people who have ever gazed upon these green stars. Green stars, Rose and they're all yours."

He and Rose stood in a meadow of brilliant orange flowers surrounded by black granite mountains. There were no signs of civilization visible but they hadn't looked very far yet. The most amazing thing were the stars he'd mentioned. it was as bright as daylight but there was no sun, only millions of light green stars twinkling in the gray sky, seeming so close they could touch them.

"I love it!" She laughed, "It's all so...neon! It reminds me of the glow in the dark stickers I put on my ceiling when I was little."  
They stood there looking for a moment longer staring at the stars when the doctor noticed the storm clouds building on the horizon and rapidly spreading across the sky.

"Do you see-" He began when he was interrupted by a flash of blue lightning and a deep boom of thunder.  
The Doctor looked at Rose and squeezed her hand. "Come on."

Rose raised her eyebrows, "Run?"

"Run!" He cried. They ran to the edge of the meadow, looking for cover under a mountain ledge when Rose saw a pass going straight through. It was as smooth as a paved road and she sighed.

"I don't think they're goin' to be my stars after all. Someone's been here don't you think?"

"Yeah, seems like. And, I don't know yet but doesn't it seem like that storm showed up rather unnaturally fast?" He said, looking back behind them and squinting up into the sky where the flashes of lightning had increased to every few seconds.

"So, what are we s'posed to do now?" Rose asked, looking up at him expectantly. Of course she would, didn't he always have a plan? He shook his head.

"We could wait in the passage until the storm passes, head back to the Tardis and go water sliding as planned." He said, still staring intently at the sky.

" You would wait out the freak, unnatural storm that seemed like it was shot at us on purpose and just leave?" Rose continued watching him, amusement lighting up her eyes.

She knew him well enough to know he couldn't leave a mystery like this alone. And, if she were being perfectly honest, she hoped he wouldn't. But he'd been acting so strangely for the last few days. She'd caught him staring at her more than once and a few times he'd seemed like he was going to tell her something serious and instead he'd make some silly comment about the talking potatoes of planet Verdis or being taught to waltz by Napoleon's sister. Something was amiss but maybe this new adventure would be what he needed to set it right.

"Of course I would, if that's what you want." He began slowly, staring at her again like he was trying to decipher some ancient impossible language. Then, as she stared back the mischievous spark she loved lit up his eyes.

"OR, We could go through this extremely well maintained mountain pass and meet the people who maintain it so extremely well. I mean, they took enough care to make sure we would find this extremely well maintained pass that I think they'd want compliments. We shouldn't be rude, should we Rose?"

"No, course not. Might even pick them a flower for their troubles." She laughed, despite the fear that ran through her at the thought of meeting new, and if the targeted storm were any indication, unfriendly aliens. But, she reasoned, she was with the Doctor and so it would be fine.

The Doctor smiled at her in return. _Alright_, he thought,_ Not the plan but it IS an adventure and she IS laughing so_...  
"Allons-y!"

**That's the end of the first chapter! I'm pretty sure I know where I'm going with it now but please let me know what you thought! Feedback would really help. Thanks! **


	2. Unexpected

**another chapter. Hope you guys like it. Reviews would be great!**

The first thing that struck them as they exited the very long, dark tunnel was the light. No longer the hazy ethereal green glow of the stars, it was now blindingly bright as if they stood mere feet from the sun. The second thing was the noise. It was amazing how absolute silence could transform into a million voices singing all at once.

As Rose's eyes adjusted to the light she could see that the ground they stood on was solid white and smooth like marble floors. The road led to what looked like a village of buildings all made of the same white stone but still no people visible. The turqiouse blue grass waved softly in the breeze until they continued walking forward. Rose heard a loud snap and something moved just beside them.

She unconsciously held onto the Doctor's hand just a little tighter as he reached down to grasp the broken wire that lay on the ground there. "That's unexpected," He murmured as he examine it, " Well, I guess it is expected to have some kind of alert system but a trip wire is a very different method for it."

"I thought those were usually, like...meant to set off a bomb..or alarm?" rose answered, still gripping his hand like a life raft. The Doctor pulled out the sonic screwdriver and scanned the end of the wire before smiling at her reassuringly.

"S'alright. Just an alert, like the bell that rings when you enter a shop. You remember that one right?"

Rose groaned, "Don't remind me. So, someone's gonna be expectin' us then, yeah?"

"Yes. So, they're either waiting for us, hiding from us or..." He trailed off looking into the distance towards the village.

"Or what?" She urged, looking along with him

"Or, coming to get us and if that's the case I would rather not wait for it to happen." He finished, pulling her forward.

"Hey, no arguments from me!" She exclaimed, walking along just as quickly.

"Where is the singing comin from?" Rose wondered aloud, looking all around them for people, or even stereo speakers that could be broadcasting the sound. It was soft, like a lullaby and so constant it stopped being something you noticed, like the chirping of crickets at night.

"There is a lot in this place to wonder about. We'll figure it out as we go." The Doctor answered lightly. He was just as curious as she was and even a little nervous, not for himself but for her.

The injury he'd suffered had been stinging pretty badly since just after they'd come through the tunnel and he felt the regeneration energy burning inside him. It made his fingers tingle and his breathing labored and though he was trying as hard as he could not to let Rose see it he wondered if maybe he should tell her. This adventure was getting much more complicated than he'd expected and they may not make it back to the TARDIS before he changed.

He held her hand tighter and thought back to the day he'd been hurt. They were running, of course, but this time he'd underestimated the enemy. They were smarter than he'd given them credit for and planted a trap The Doctor had stepped right into. They called it Shatter, a microchip sized electricity bomb. It was an invention of theirs and one that he had just argued with them over using. He'd thought he'd convinced them to destroy it but instead a rebel had planted one just in front of the TARDIS.

The moment he'd stepped on it he felt lightning blaze through him, causing fierce pain just before his whole body had gone numb. The electricity continued to burn through him slowly, consuming like the last ember of a fire that would never go out. This was just one of the reasons he had argued against it use. It was a cruel weapon causing a very slow but unavoidable death. Of course, death was always avoidable for him. He would regenerate, he reminded himself, and Rose would not be left alone no matter what happened here.

At least, that's what he thought. He could never have imagined that in only moments it would be Rose who left him alone instead.

They continued to walk in silence for a few minutes with the Doctor lost in thought and Rose trying to decipher the words in the echoing song swirled around them.

"Doctor? I think I heard the word 'souls' . You don't s'pose there's...ghosts around here do ya?" She asked with a shiver, holding onto the rest of his arm now along with his hand. Once again he smiled as her nearness broke through his morose thoughts.

"No such thing; well, not that i've ever found any evidence of at least." He said, rubbing her arm with his free hand

"Not that you've found evidence of yet." She reminded him but she was smiling again.

The kidnappers came without warning. One moment they were alone and the next three men materialized on the road in front of them. Two of the men grabbed Rose by the arms, yanking her out of the Doctor's grasp while the other pulled him back from her. Then as soon as the Doctor lost contact with her the men disappeared, taking Rose with them.

"WHAT!? ROSE!" He screamed, frantically searching and turning in circles before he pulled himself together enough to start using the sonic to scan the air around the ground where they'd disappeared. His face hardened as he read the results. He turned back towards the city ahead and started to run.

**End of Chapter 2. What do you think? Reviews please! :D**


	3. Her Highness

"Let me out!" Rose screamed at the top of her lungs, beating on the door of the blank white room where the men had landed with her. She was only alone for a few minutes though, when a woman wearing a coveralls and face mask entered the room. She looked like she were trying to avoid catching some kind of disease.

"Who are you?" Rose demanded, backing away from her when she saw that the woman held a syringe in one hand.

"I'm not important. You won't be conscious long enough for it to bother you." The woman replied coldly before lunging at Rose ad stabbing her arm with the needle. Rose had no chance to move out of the way or fight the woman before she was completely knocked out.

Rose woke slowly, rising out of the fog of sleep just enough to understand that there were more people in the room with her. She felt paralyzed, unable to move even enough to open her eyes. "She's lovely. She'll do just fine; Thank you boys." A strange, raspy voice said just beside her.

"_Do for what?" _Rose thought, listening closely, hoping they would say something that would help her escape. She had no doubt the Doctor would come for her but she had no intention of just sitting and waiting until he found her.

"She is lovely. Of course, you are far lovelier. I am sorry, my queen, that you should have to change so much." Came another sniveling voice from further away.

"Thank you." The raspy voice answered dryly. Rose could practically hear the eye roll in her tone. _must be the queen. what's she want with me? Why will she have to change?" _ Her thoughts were going a million miles an hour and she wanted so desperately to be able to see her captors and scream at them that if they knew what was good for them they'd let her go.

Unfortunately as she listened she heard the queen rasp, "Take care she stays asleep until she is needed." and just as quickly another sharp poke in her arm. Rose's last thought before the blackness took her again was of the Doctor, running.

The Doctor _was_ running as hard and fast as he could. Inside the pain was fierce, multiplied by the physical excercise but pain didn't matter. Nothing mattered, not when Rose was in trouble. When he finally reached the first stone building he slammed his fists against the door with all the force he could muster. The door opened and immediately a large hand clapped over his mouth and pulled him inside.

"Are you tryin to get killed? Be quiet!" The huge man ordered before releasing the Doctor.

"Who would kill us? Who are you hiding from and where are they?" The Doctor demanded to know.

"Guards, scientists, doctors, royals, sycophants...take your pick." snorted a woman who stood to the back of the room.

"Where do they take prisoners?" He asked urgently. The man looked at hm for a moment, taking in his wild eyes and the desperation in his voice

"They would take any prisoners to the tower."

"What tower? All these buildings look just the same!" The Doctor exploded. He didn't care at all if he were caught by any guards. In fact, he hoped he would. That would only make it that much easier for him to find Rose.

"The tower isn't tall. It's deep. It goes underground instead of into the sky." The sarcastic woman explained now with pity in her voice. She'd been watching the doctor and could see that he was very near his breaking point.

"Please, take me there or show me the way. I have no time to waste."

The big man held out a hand to the Doctor. "I'm Harmon and this is my wife, Lyra. There probably isnt' anything we can do to help you but we are willing to try. What is it about the prison you seek?"

The Doctor was still for a moment. The felt so strange inside, as if he could actually feel the foundation of his being separating and crumbling into pieces. It would not be much longer before he had to regenerate and if he waited too long it would too be late for even that.

"They took her," He gasped. He still hadn't recovered from racing to the village and he had to fight for air.

"Who?" Asked Lyra. She thought she probably knew the answer and was afraid she was right.

"Rose. She's my... my friend. Men just appeared in front of us and took her. I know they're here and I have to find her. Do you know who took her and why? I'm the Doctor and I can help you but you have to tell me what you know."

" This Rose, is she young? Pretty?" Lyra continued questioning with a sinking feeling in her gut.

"She's beautiful." The Doctor breathed, feeling the same sense of foreboding.

"The queen's men took her then and she wouldn't be held in the tower. She'll be in the Lab. " Harmon announced grimly.

" And why is that?" asked the Doctor as he began to feel strength returning to him and put his hand on the door, ready to storm into any battle.

"Because Her Highness needs a new outfit." Lyra answered bitterly.

"Explain!" The Doctor demanded, feeling the regeneration energy soaring through his bloodstream more every minute.

Lyra sighed, "The Queen and all the Royal family do not die. They create clones of themselves and transfer their consciousness to new bodies when the current one gets injured or sick or too old. But, they have been cloned too many times and they are starting to die much more quickly. The queen needs new genetic material. I don't know if she'll use your friend for material or simply trade bodies with her entirely but your friend won't exist anymore."

"Come on," Harmon announced, watching the doctor's face carefully and seeing the rage begin to blaze from his eyes, "Let's go. I'll take you to the Lab. I cannot get you in but I'll get you as close as I can."


	4. Not Going Anywhere

Rose blinked over and over, trying to clear her vision but it wasn't working. Everything around her was dim and blurry.

"She's conscious," She heard the voice of the woman who had been giving her the shots speaking just above her head.

"It doesn't matter now. She's only got a few more minutes to exist at all. Let her have them." The raspy voice of the queen laughed in response.

The energy that shot through Rose felt like it's own living thing. She could feel it awakening her limbs and freeing her voice.

"NO!" She shouted as her vision suddenly cleared. Her eyes swirled with a glowing golden light that scared away the woman holding the syringe but not the queen.

"Hm, that's interesting. What a fun time i'll have discovering all my new abilities." She threatened and pressed a button that was on the console beside her.

The light in Rose's eyes flickered as the electrodes that were still attached to her forehead, neck, and chest hummed with electricity. She could feel herself fading away. She felt lighter and as if she was floating out of her body.

"No!," She screamed, fighting. "I'm not goin' anywhere!"

The machines next to them suddenly exploded into flames and Rose felt herself beginning to solidify again. She sighed with relief at finding that she was no longer tied up and ripped the tiny wires from herself. Looking around to find the queen Rose screamed in horror. She didn't not see the queen but saw herself instead, lying unconscious on the surgical table.

Immediately she looked around for a mirror and found a solid metal plate. Her reflection was just what she'd thought, the Queen. But instead of the Queen's green eyes, they were Rose's own brown with the last traces of golden light flickering in them before it faded completely.

"What?... I don't ..." The Queen muttered as she woke slowly. Finally opening her eyes fully she grinned, laughing in triumph.

"Bria! Bria, come back now and untie me right away! It worked! Oh, it worked!" She crowed, not noticing Rose standing just outside of the light.

"Bria!" She then screamed with impatience. Rose waited another minute, listening for footsteps before she walked closer to the Queen so that she would be seen.

"WHAT are you doing here!?" The Queen screamed in terror and fury causing Rose to freeze in place.

"Isn't this what you wanted? Wasn't your evil plan to take over my body?" She asked with more surety than she felt.

"Of course it was but you are not supposed to be in mine! You are supposed to disappear! YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO EXIST!

"Oh," Rose snorted, "Well, I told you I wasn't goin' anywhere."

"Oh, yes you are." The Queen snarled. It was so strange for Rose to be threatened by her own face that it felt almost comical.

"Yeah? And how's that? Because i'm not the one tied up anymore. That's you isn't it? Tell you what though, let's make a deal, you and me. Trade our bodied back and i'll let you loose. Sound good?"

"I can't trade back. There's no way to do that! I would die. I don't know what happened but trading was never a possibility. You should have been erased. What are you?"

Rose felt the mirth fade as it was replaced by anger at this terrible woman and the golden spark returned to her eyes as she glared at the Queen.  
"I am the Bad Wolf."

Rose watched with satisfaction as the Queen's eyes, her eyes, widened in fear. She was bluffing of course. Whatever part of the Bad Wolf remained in her was only enough to keep her from fading away. She certainly wouldn't be able to make the Queen disintegrate as she had the Daleks. Not that she would want to, at least not while the Queen still possessed her body.

"Rose!" The Doctor burst through the door still holding the sonic like a weapon as he scanned for the darkness for her. The queen's eyes darted from Rose to the Doctor and she suddenly gave a huge grin.

"Here! I'm here! Oh, you found me!" She cried out in fake relief, even managing to produce some tears. The Doctor rushed to her side, so focused on the Rose that was tied up he didn't even notice the real Rose standing there.

"No, Doctor, it's me! I'm Rose!" She cried out desperately pulling on his arm to stop him from freeing the Queen. The Doctor turned to her.

"No! She's lying Doctor, don't listen to her. Please, get me out of here. You got here just in time. She was going to steal my body!" The Queen cried out, struggling at the now loosened bindings enough to free one wrist. The Doctor looked between them for a moment, unsure of what to do when the Queen grasped his hand. "It's me." She whispered flirtatiously. The Doctor blinked once. "Yes, it is you." He growled before turning to the real Rose and hugging her tightly.  
He grinned down at her. "Hello. We have to stop meeting like this."

Rose let out a long sigh of relief and nodded emphatically. He pulled away from her then and looked back at the Queen who was busy working on untying her other wrist.

"Now, how are we going to get you back where you belong?" He said, moving towards the machines they'd been connected to and beginning to scan them with the sonic screwdriver.

"There's no use." The queen announced, "It cannot be undone. There's never been a switch before. The machine isn't made for that. I don't even know what she did to make this happen."

The Doctor looked back at her for a moment, "Weeell, I don't think your machine was prepared for someone like her and I'm absolutely positive it's not prepared for me."


	5. Seeing Stars

Rose watched the Doctor as he pulled apart the machine, stripping wires and rearranging pieces of metal and screws that she would never remember what to do with. She didn't want to interrupt him but she thought he should know if she were about to faint.

"Doctor? Something is wrong. I don't know how to describe it exactly but it feels like...it's like everything inside me is just...shutting down." As she spoke it seemed that even her voice was fading out.

The Doctor looked at her in alarm and suddenly remembered the whole reason the Queen had wanted to trade bodies in the first place; she was dying.

"I know, and you're going to be okay. You trust me right? I'm going to fix this and you are going to be all right." He was talking to both her and himself. He understood the feeling of shutting down all too well. He'd stomped down the regeneration energy that had hummed through every part of his being for almost too long. It was beginning to fade just like the Queen's body. The clock was running out for both of them now.

Rose smiled at the Doctor. "Of course I trust you." She said softly. That was an understatement.

"You shouldn't." the Queen snapped from the chair where she'd been tied up. "He can't change us back. I'm keeping this body and you are going to die anyway."

"Oh, shut it." Rose snapped back without looking at her. "You don't know him. He can do anything. He's very, very clever." She smiled up at the doctor, rolling her eyes. It was very strange to look at the Queen's rapidly aging face and it still be so Rose. He smiled back for just a second before returning to the machine so that he could swallow the lump in his throat without her noticing. He could not betray her faith in him. He would not let her die.

"AHA!" The Doctor exclaimed as he lunged away from the machine and turned to the Queen in Rose's body to scan her with the sonic instead, then scanning Rose in the Queen's body.

"I see it now. Well, I don't see it but I see part of it and part of it is enough. You think you kill them don't you? You think you just take their bodies and they become nothing? Well, your Highness, you are wrong. No one is nothing and you can't just make a person vanish as if they were. They've got to go somewhere and they did." He stared at Rose then as if trying to remember something.

"Oh! ROSE! We saw them! We saw them and we heard them. The singing, Rose. It was all the clones of this wretched family. This blasted machine has trapped them in a state of pure energy." He dashed around, fiddling with the machines in the room until they were whirring and humming with life again.

Rose felt as if her legs could not hold her up any longer and she sat down hard on the nearest chair. "The stars..." She half whispered, remembering the beautiful green lights they'd marveled over when they'd arrived.

"Yes, the stars. They're stuck because this infernal machine doesn't kill them, it just replaces their consciousness with hers in the bodies. They become trapped in the atmosphere as those stars. That's why they were so bright, and why they seemed so close. But you, my brilliant Rose, you wouldn't go would you?"

Rose felt her chest tighten as he smiled at her with such tenderness. This wasn't right. It was more emotion than the doctor almost ever allowed himself and it felt amazing but still wrong somehow. She began to be more worried about the Doctor himself than about being trapped in the Queen's body.

"Doctor?" She said, still finding it difficult to reconcile her thoughts coming from the Queen's raspy voice. "We'll figure it out, you know that. We've probably been in worse scrapes than this."

He gave a little laugh, "Probably."

"No, really. I mean, the Daleks were winning and we handled that, and Cassandra was going to burn us alive and we handled that. Werewolves, Doctor. Handled them too. We always win, you and me. Always."

The Doctor stared at her for a moment before his face burst into his trademark grin. "I know what to do. Not about everything, not about her," He said, nodding towards the still fuming Queen, "or about them," now nodding towards the securely locked door where the Queen's servants had begun knocking very loudly and calling out for her. "But, I do know what to do about you and I."

He stood then, taking a deep breath and letting it out very slowly as a golden light began to shine around him. Rose remembered that all too well.  
"Doctor!" She cried out as the light burst from every part of him. It consumed him entirely and he shouted in pain before looking directly at her and holding out his hand. Acting on instinct Rose used the last bit of strength she had to stand and take his hand in hers.

Suddenly she too was consumed with light. It filled her up ad streamed from every part of her for just a moment before the they both fell to the floor. Rose sat up quickly, ignoring the dizziness to inspect the Doctor, almost afraid of what she would find.

"Rose, are you all right?" He asked, rubbing his forehead and running his hand through his hair as if to banish the dizziness he too felt. She laughed with joy.

"You're still you!" She cried out, tackling him in a hug. He laughed in return, "I just used enough energy to heal myself and gave the rest to you. You didn't answer me though; How do you feel?"

"I feel perfect." She said, only just then realizing that she did indeed feel completely well.

"Not quite perfect," The Doctor shook his head, "Not until you and she switch back, which we can do right now." He announced, jumping up and smacking the side of the machine one more time, causing it to buzz even louder.

"I already told you," The Queen sighed, "You cannot switch us back so this whole thing is pointless. When my people get in here, which they will very soon, it would go better for you if I wasn't tied up." She sounded so bored and so sure of herself it was hard not to take her seriously but not for the Doctor.

"When I get things set straight it would go better for you if you didn't compound your many wrongs with empty threats."

After Rose and the Queen were once again hooked up to the machine the Doctor stopped working for a moment, looking straight into Rose's eyes, "Rose, you have to fight, just like before. Fight to stay with me, right?"

"Right." She whispered, closing her eyes so the look his wouldn't make her cry. _Bad Wolf... I am the Bad Wolf.._. She kept repeating to herself hoping somehow she could trigger the force that had kept her intact the first time. She felt none of the power from the time vortex this time however and regardless of whether her eyes were open or not, she still only saw the Doctor.

"Right." He repeated, then took a deep breath before pressing the button to start the machine.


	6. Free

Light flooded the room, at first the Doctor thought the machine had caught fire but it wasn't coming from the machine, it simply encircled it. The bright golden light was coming from Rose in the queen's body. The light then turned from gold to soft green and became so bright he had to shield his eyes.

Then the voices that they had heard when they'd come through the tunnel filled the space, growing louder and louder. There were too many voices for the words to be distinguishable except for one, souls just like Rose had said.

The golden light seemed to thinly surround the bright green flood and soon it all focused tightly on the machine itself. Before the Doctor could do anything to inspect it or try to communicate the machine suddenly crackled with the same blue lightning that had trapped them and exploded.

"Rose!" the Doctor shouted, rushing to Rose's body first. "Rose? Answer me, please. Rose, please, wake up love. I can't.. You have to wake up!" He pleaded with her as he untied her wrists.

"What?" She mumbled, opening her eyes very slowly. "Did it work? Am I...me?" she asked, still blinking away the sleep.

"Yes!" He exclaimed, hugging her tightly. "Yes, you are you! Fantastic Rose!"

"Ugh, enough. Untie me now!" The Queen screeched at the same moment that two of her guards teleported into the room.

"WHERE have you BEEN!?" She screamed at them.

"So sorry, your highness. We couldn't use the transport, there's been a huge lightning storm out there. It's only just stopped." One of the guards explained fearfully. The other ignored them and walked straight to the Doctor and Rose.

"Aren't you supposed to be the Queen now? and _you_, you should be in the tower! I'll get that set right straight away." He growled, gripping both Rose and the Doctor's wrists. The Doctor grinned and using his other hand he took hold of the guards transporter cuff,

"Allons-y"

At first Rose thought something had gone very wrong. She was standing on solid ground and could still feel the guard's grip on her wrist but she couldnt see anything. It was absolutely pitch black.

"Rose, got your phone on you?" The Doctor asked calmly.

"Uh, yeah," she said, pulling it from her pocket and holding it out in the direction of his voice, "Doubt it works though. All that electric shock stuff couldn't have been good for it."

"We'll see." He replied and she could hear the sonic at work. Then suddenly there was light. "Works as a torch at least!" He announced cheerfully.

"What did you do!?" The guard exclaimed, releasing his grip on both of them in his anger. Rose rubbed her wrist and moved to stand on the other side of the Doctor.

"Just transported us back to the field where we landed. There's the orange flowers. Remember them, Rose?" The Doctor explained calmly.

"Yeah, wow, it seems like it's been forever since we first got here. But... The stars, they're gone. "  
The guard stood angrily pressing buttons on his transporter cuff, trying to get the settings back to normal. "When I get this fixed, you both are going to be so sorry." He growled.

"Good luck with that, mate." Rose scoffed, smiling a little.

"The stars are gone because of you, Rose. You set them free. You used all that time energy to save people again. They were trapped in the atmosphere, they caused the lightning to send us to the machine so that maybe we could save them." The Doctor explained, totally ignoring the guards threats.

"Are they..." Rose was too afraid to finish the question.

"Their souls are free now." He answered softly. Rose nodded with tears filling her eyes.

"Okay," She said, taking a deep breath. "Now what? Just as she asked, five more guards transported themselves into the meadow. The Doctor raised his eyebrows and took her hand. "Run."

They ran fast to the end of the meadow where they could see the light on top of the Tardis glowing. The guards were not prepared to chase them through the darkness and so were easily avoided.

"Okay, now you've got some explaining to do, sir." Rose announced as she caught her breath and he started typing coordinates at the center console.

"What? What did I do?" He asked, startled by the accusatory tone.

"Well, for starters you could tell me how you just happened to well, almost regenerate." She said, folding her arms across her chest.

"Oh, well... that was...I was just...dying. Remember the Shatter Bomb? They got me with that a few days ago. Just a little thing, really. Although, we're going to have to pay another visit and deal with that... Anyway, didn't want to worry you about it so just thought I'd wait." He said without looking at her, still fiddling with the control panel.

"Why? Doctor, you should've told me!" She asked, saddened that he might not trust her with information like that.

"Because... I thought maybe you might not want... That you would want to go home when I changed." He sighed, finally looking at her. She reached out, holding his hand tightly.

"I stayed with you after you changed the first time didn't I? I told you, I'm gonna stay with you forever, no matter what." She announced so forcefully it made him chuckle.

"All right." He said as she finally smiled and then frowned again.

"But what about the queen? Is she the bad wolf now? I mean, she's got all that regeneration energy or whatever in her..."

"No," The Doctor turned back to the controls, pressing more buttons and pulling more levers. "It's gone now. You expelled most of it to set the clones free and destroy the machine. She may live a little longer than she would have before but she is many hundreds of years old and that's going to catch up to her soon. No one there is going to have to worry about her rule anymore."

"Good!" Rose exclaimed with a shudder, sitting in the jump seat next to him.

"Now, how about that water slide?" The Doctor asked with a grin looking down at her. Rose laughed, " As long you have the proper permits and bathing suits."

He laughed, finally feeling free, "I always have the proper permits."

**The End. **

**How did you like it? Thank you to everyone who read/followed the story. Please, let me know what you think!**


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